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Report (October 26, 2014)
The Abrahamic Reunion Peace Journey to Acco on October 26 was a success.
80 Jews and Arabs journeyed together from Jerusalem and the Galilee to Acco. On a day amidst the ongoing tensions in jerusalem we went together: Israelis, journalists, and camera crew, Palestinians from Beit Haninah, Beit Iqsa, Wadi Joz, Ras al-Amud in Jerusalem and also joining from Ramallah, Bethlehem, Husam and Hebron.
Upon arrival in Acco’s Old City, we gathered at the Shaduli Sharuti Sufi center. Sheikh Ghassan Manasra opened with blessing the Islamic New Year that day, and recently celebrated Jewish holy days. Via Skype on an iPhone, we connected to David Less and a Sufi peace event in New Zealand, where they sang for us an ancient Maori song for peace. We then broke up into smaller groups for text study of sources in Hebrew and Arabic, from Jewish, Muslim, and Christian religious texts, deepening the connection among the group.
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After a shared lunch at the Sufi Center, we walked the alleyways of Old Acco to the historic All-Jazzar Mosque. Gathering in its main courtyard, we prayed for the healing of its Imam and our host, Sheikh Sameer Assi who had to go to the hospital that day. The mosque staff welcomed us…there we listened to the Chief Rabbi of Acco Yosef Yashar speak of his city as a model of Arab-Jewish co-existence, and of his work in Jewish and Arab schools lecturing together with Imam Sameer Assi.
We took the bold step of welcoming two ‘controversial’ religious leaders to join us, opening our circle, inviting them to shift from fear of ‘the other’ to a path of engagement, and peacebuilding. Joining us from Hebron was Sheikh Khaled Ahmad, one of the founders of the Hizbet ut-Tahrir, the pan-Islamic party. From Tsfat, we were joined by recently denied candidate for Chief Rabbi of Israel and Jerusalem, Chief Rabbi of Tsfat Shmuel Eliyahu. Rabbi Eliyahu said: “if we Jews and Arabs look within our religious traditions, we find that we all share faith in the one G-d. Therefore it’s imperative that believes in the one G-d work for the sake of peace in order to serve the one G-d. In the end of days all the nations and peoples will come to serve the one G-d…so let’s do it together now!”
At the end of the day, we traveled to the Hof HaCarmel beach in Haifa, where we, including some West Bankers who had never been to a beach, watched the sunset and had fun on the beach together. We closed with a prayer for peace on the waves of the Mediterranean.
Thanks to the Rising Tide International community and the German Global Hope Fund for their support.
From – Eliyahu McLean and Sheikh Ghassan Manasra, coordinators of the Abrahamic Reunion